This invention relates to hair curling devices which are catalytically heated. More particularly, this invention relates to a curling iron with a self-contained fuel supply and ignition system.
Curling devices such as hair curlers are known to include catalytic heaters which were activated when the catalytic material is exposed to air. These devices are typified in British Pat. No. 419,825 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,997,869; 3,478,755; and 3,358,733.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,563,251 and 3,913,592 illustrate hair curlers which are ignited using separate ignition apparatus. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,251 device initiates a catalytic combustion by supplying an electric current to a filament of a first catalyst positioned proximate the main catalyst mass. The catalyst filament receives its electric current from a filler container at the same time that the hair curler is filled with liquid fuel. Aside from the difficulties of connecting and insulating the electric connection, this device has the disadvantage of becoming very fragile. The filament element is incandescent throughout the duration of use of the curler and rapidly becomes fragile, resulting in an unreliable hair curler.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,592 device is a heated hair roller which is ignited by creating a hot point from an accessory appliance inserted into the hair curler to a position proximate the catalyst. The accessory appliance is preferably a piezoelectric or optical lighter. Aside from the disadvantage of requiring separate ignition and filling for each hair curler application and its concomitant handling difficulties by a user, such a system is costly and complex and may lead to an unreasonable amount of time to form curls in the hair of the user, with consequential general consumer dissatisfaction. Prior art devices, such as those which included nozzles for releasing a gaseous fuel, e.g. British Pat. No. 419,825; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,997,869; 3,563,251; and 3,913,592 are generally difficult to manufacture. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,251 requires its nozzle opening to be within a range of about 15 to 80 microns and formed preferably by the use of a laser.
The invention disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 047,260 entitled "Catalytically Heated Curling Device with Improved Ignition System" solves such prior art difficulties and disadvantages by providing a curling iron which includes a catalyst means with a self-contained ignition system for initiating oxidation of the vaporized fuel/air mixture in the presence of the catalyst. In a specific embodiment of this co-pending application provided a telescopically mounted tip housing which included an ignition means having a snap action, push activated mechanism.
The rotary ignition device of the present invention has certain advantages over the snap action mechanism disclosed in the above-mentioned co-pending application. The rotary igniter of the instant invention does not require a pushing of its tip which may cause an axial displacement of the curling rod such as if reignition is desired while a tress of hair is wound about the barrel of the curling rod. Further, a rotary activated ignition system may be preferable in that if the curling iron is dropped and lands on its tip, the snap action mechanism of the co-pending application is more likely to incur structural damage and cause an unwanted tripping of the ignition mechanism.
The foregoing problems have been substantially eliminated by providing in a preferred embodiment of this invention a curling device having a self-contained ignition means mounted in the tip of the curling iron. The ignition means preferably is mounted on a one-piece frame member and includes a rotatable member and a friction wheel with their respective axes perpendicular to one another and an indexing means to translate the rotary motion of the rotatable member to a rotational movement of the friction wheel.